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PRESS CONFERENCE

 

Prof. Dr. Yusuf Ziya Irbec
Deputy for Antalya
Turkish Parliament, June 12, 2013, 11.00 a.m.
 
Dear Members of the Press, Distinguished Representatives of our Media,
 
Today, I am here to tell the truth as an expression of  my love for our great nation rather than as a Member of Parliament.
 

In recent years, we have all witnessed and are still experiencing the negative consequences of policies to differentiate our nation.

 

 

I thought for a while how we got to this point. I looked at what happened earlier on and remembered the main reason when I resigned from that party. It was just because of their segregation policies.

 
The Prime Minister and members of the government constantly addressed the people with hard and segregate speeches.
 
It is a clear discrimination if a Prime Minister says that we are the servants of 76 percent of voters.
 
He cannot call those protestors “marauders or looters” whom I would consider are merely seeking for the rights and freedoms. He is the one who says “we shall not be afraid of the freedom of thoughts” and keep calling those people “marauders or looters” that are expressing their own opinion against his.
 
The Prime Minister cannot call anyone as “the game builders or the trap setters” and declare them as “traitors” who did not like his policies.
 
I wish to make a remark in history at this point both as a scientist and politician:
 
Lack of leadership skills unfortunately led to a high number of injuries and some deaths in a crisis of this magnitude. I wish to pass my condolences to the families of those who have lost their lives during these incidents, namely, the Police Commissioner Mustafa Sari, Abdullah Comert and Mehmet Ayvalitas. I also wish a speedy recovery to those who were injured.
 
The Prime Minister says that his trait as a leader is democratic but when it comes to practice he is distinguishably authoritarian. He talks about the freedom of the press and freedom of thoughts, plenty of words without any practice.
 
Let me give you an example. Please have a look at the seven biggest newspapers’ headlines published on Friday June 7, 2013 and their contents. They are word by word exactly the same. Can this be called enlightening the people? How sad it is that the people in Turkey have started following foreign press in order to find out what is going on in their own country.
 
Communication and the flow of information are forced to be taken under complete control just like in the autocratic regimes.
 
The Prime Minister wants to be the Constitution himself. The protesters in Taksim draw attention to the first three articles of the Constitution with a banner, which states the following cases exactly:
 
1) Cannot be changed, 2) cannot be amended, and 3) nor can their amendment be proposed.
 
The same attitude is also reflected in the Prime Minister’s speeches: “If you perceive this as hardness, I am sorry but Erdogan will not change” says Erdogan. “If you continue to do what you are doing we will respond you with the language you understand.”
 
The renowned Ottoman poet, late Ziya Pasha wrote the following two lines as if he saw these days well over a century ago.
 
“It does not need for understand  great ideas to this small mind,
for as much as this scale cannot measure weight of this heaviness.”
 
Imagine a Prime Minister who tries to bring in restrictions to “twitter”, one of the world’s most used internet site, in a country like Turkey where the number of internet users are constantly ranking the country at the top of the list in the world.
 
What we want in Turkey on the other hand is to look at the future with confidence, enlarged freedoms, and not insulting our people and youth.
 
We want an honest and down to earth prime minister in this country who embraces everyone away from the self-centred mentality.
 
We do not want any Brutus around the Prime Minister. We want them to contribute to extinguish the fire. Those who are saying that the Turkish Prime Minister is not an easy target to swallow should be reminded that these people are merely trying to seek their deserved rights.
 
Now it is time to face the facts. The Prime Minister and his surrounding Brutusses should give up the tendency to show the country as a land of marauders or looters.
 
The Prime Minister adds further fuel to the fire with his actions and discourses which increase the current polarization gap wider in the country. While the ruling party is in this state of thoughtlessness, the opposition parties have unfortunately also failed in the same test. Nationalists who clearly express that Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) is expected to be more actively involved in the conduct of Gezi Park.
 
Who will support and defend the idealistic young people in Gezi Park?
 
Please have a look at the intervention system in Turkey, especially in Taksim last night.
 
The same logic was also dominated in the beginning of these events. The civil police vehicles did not have any license plates, or the serial numbers of riot police on their helmets were all covered not to be notified.
 
Spiked sticks are used in Izmir while cars without license plates are used in Ankara. Where is the Prime Minister and what is he preparing for? Are you going to order driving those vehicles that have no license plates on to the crowd?
 
It is important to notice that the biggest danger will come after the 20th day of these protests as “time” is the greatest provocateur at this type of actions.
 
The events will particularly come to a point that cannot be controlled about the 20th and 25th days onward. The biggest responsibility hangs on the shoulders of the ruling party if we do not want this country like a house on fire and to completely lose control over these events. It is extremely dangerous to silence the activists with some government supporting crowds, just like the method of spilling petrol in the streets. The main thing here is to accept the method of confrontation with reality, not to choose the collision method.
 
You are already the ruling party in this country. Why do you choose such aggressive methods to face these protestors? You have all what you may need as power and strength. Why do you need such a show of strength? It only increases the tensions.
 
We might look for a proper governing staff as people in charge do not possess sought after skill sets and their advisors lack the consultative skills.
 
When major events emerge nobody should look for an excuse such as there were some provocateurs or excuses to hide themselves behind from abroad originated rioted roots. I am warning and filing up a criminal complaint. Government administrators who cannot manage anything properly will be held responsible in first degree from irreparable damages to the public.
 
Let us have a look at some examples from the other countries. Prosecutors should take actions against users of misconduct and I still strongly believe in this country’s prosecutors.
 
Yours respectfully.

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© Prof. Dr. Yusuf Ziya İrbeç - 23. ve 24. Dönemler Antalya Milletvekili